Definitely Not At Worship

Oct. 10, 2016

Welcome California technical, avant-garde death metal project Our Place of Worship is Silence. The Embodiment of Hate, out this Friday, is their debut full length through Broken Limbs. Says guitarist and vocalist Eric Netto, "The Embodiment of Hate is the necessary proclamation of our unrivaled ferocity and authenticity. With elements of pessimism and cosmic annihilation, this record throws salt into the wounds of all saviors." Well put. Now what does that all mean?

Are you are fan of Primitive Man or Vermin Womb? If so, I may have just found your new favorite band. I also hear elements of Portal, Adversarial, and Malthusian at times, but this has ELM's signature, primeval growls all over it. Crusty drums and crustier punk riffs join with spiraling atmospheric death metal madness to travel to the darkest, smelliest reaches of the extreme. "Resplendent Misery" is an early crowd pleaser in these respects and continues to be among my favorites. "Feast of Martyrdom" follows suit by seemingly throwing all of the instruments into a dulled industrial crusher and pressing record. Who knew dying machinery had such a penchant for mathy time signatures?

A little more on that note, as it does seem to be an overarching theme of these compositions. Albums generally tend to either fall into one end of the spectrum or the other when it comes to primitive to technical ratio. These guys missed the email. While not the only band to pull this off, it is still pretty rare to hear a band that manages to nail both of those adjectives at the same time. Imagine that instead of giving the apes understanding of weapons, the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey instead granted them ability to play chaotic, grindy riffage. It would probably end up sounding something like this. I would totally watch that movie, too.

Clocking in at just about 28 minutes The Embodiment Of Hate does an excellent job of living up to its title. It is malice aforethought. It is living, breathing depravity. And despite its caveman howls and primal aesthetic, the compositions are quite impressive when it comes to time signatures and general musicianship. Furthermore, tracks like "Church of Atrocity" exhibit a certain level of experimentation with structure and melody that left me wanting more. Our Place of Worship is Silence may have a lot in common with Primitive Man, but they are far from the same. If you like that style but also want to hear certain elements taken in other directions, you need to check this out today.